The Trump administration added $2.1 billion in infrastructure projects in Chicago to a list of frozen projects in the second day of the over what the White House said was concerns about “race-based contracting.”
Office of Management and Budget director Russ Vought said Friday that the administration was freezing the funding, which was meant to improve the city’s transit system, which comes after the administration had already announced other funding freezes for projects in states led by Democrats.
The pause will halt work on a plan to extend the city’s Red Line Train and for a broader modernization project for its Red and Purple lines to upgrade stations and remove a bottleneck in train traffic where different lines intersect.
Earlier this week, Vought said the Department of Transportation had put a hold on $18 billion in funding for Vought also said the freeze was to ensure the funding wasn’t being used to pay for race-based contracting.
“Together, these critical reviews are intended to ensure no additional federal dollars go towards discriminatory, illegal, and wasteful contracting practices,” the Department of Transportation said on Friday. “The American people don’t care what race or gender construction workers, pipefitters, or electricians are. They just want these massive projects finally built quickly and efficiently.”
The New York project would extend a subway line and the Hudson Tunnel project to connect New Jersey and New York. It also targets Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries,
“Obstructing these projects is stupid and counterproductive because they create tens of thousands of great jobs and are essential for a strong regional and national economy,” Schumer said in a post on X.
Both funding freezes come as continue to escalate as Democrats have refused to give into demands to attach funding for expiring healthcare subsidies to a stopgap bill to reopen the government, a position Republicans and the White House say is a nonstarter.
Another vote to fund the government through the end of the year through a continuing resolution is scheduled to take place on Friday but is expected to fail. Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters on Thursday that senators would be in Washington through the weekend, essentially guaranteeing the shutdown will stretch into next week.
“They’ll have a fourth chance tomorrow to vote to open up the government, and if that fails, we’ll give them the weekend to think about it, and then we’ll come back and vote on Monday,” Thune told reporters.
The Transportation Department said the shutdown was hurting its abilities to continue its reviews of the Chicago and New York projects that could restore funding.
“Unfortunately, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries’ decision to shut down the government has negatively affected the Department’s staffing resources for carrying out this important analysis,” the agency said. “We urge Democrats in Congress to stop holding the federal government’s budget hostage so USDOT can get back to the important work of the American people.”
Trump has increased pressure on Democrats by threatening to fire thousands of federal workers, shuttering government programs and the stalled funding. On Thursday, the administration also announced it was canceling nearly $8 billion in federal funding for 223 energy projects across 16 Democratic-leaning states.
Democrats have railed against the Trump administration’s leveraging of federal funds to pressure them on the shutdown.
“This was obviously designed as a political attack by the White House targeting Democrats. But the sad reality is that Americans—the middle class, working class, and vulnerable—who voted for both Democrats and Republicans will be hurt by this. This is divisive, it is petty, and unfortunately it is exactly what we have come to expect from President Trump and Russ Vought,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in a statement.
The president also said he was considering which “Democrat agencies” should be cut as the government shutdown continues.
“I have a meeting today with Russ Vought, he of PROJECT 2025 Fame, to determine which of the many Democrat Agencies, most of which are a political SCAM, he recommends to be cut, and whether or not those cuts will be temporary or permanent,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Freezing the infrastructure funding is also a continuation of the practices that it says are discriminatory and unconstitutional. Trump has signed executive orders targeting DEI throughout the government, including in the military, foreign service and education.
All federal employees who worked on DEI initiatives have been laid off and many of the offices across the government have been shuttered. According to the White House, the cuts to the programs for the federal government.
The Justice Department has also issued a memo asking recipients of federal funds to ban DEI programs like training sessions and policies directed toward protected groups. It applies to schools, colleges, nonprofits and private companies that are government contractors, all of which are recipients of federal dollars.